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UFS plant scientists receive prestigious SAPBA awards

10 June 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

Read More Collage — Prof Zakkie Pretorius, left, plays a significant role in providing pathology support to the plant breeding industry.Prof Liezel Herselman contributes to plant breeding in Southern Africa by training and mentoring the plant breeders of the future.

The Southern African Plant Breeders’ Association (SAPBA) recently bestowed prestigious awards upon Prof Zakkie Pretorius, Research Fellow in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), and Prof Liezel Herselman, Associate Professor in the same department. This institution strives to maintain high ethical standards and norms, contributing to stable, sustainable agriculture.

During the 13th Southern African Plant Breeders’ Association symposium, Prof Herselman was presented with a Fellow Award and Prof Pretorius with Honorary Membership. They received the awards for their services to and promotion of the SAPBA objectives, together with their exceptional contributions to plant breeding.

Provide food for the nation

Over the years, Prof Pretorius, who has extensive expertise in diseases of field crops – more specifically the rust diseases of small grain cereal crops – has played a significant role in providing pathology support to the plant breeding industry. He has also conducted ground-breaking pathology research on rust diseases in field crops. In 2019, he co-authored an article that appeared in Nature, the world’s leading multidisciplinary science journal. He is also shortlisted as a 2020 finalist in the Lifetime Award and Special Theme Award (Plant Health) of the National Science and Technology Forum. Furthermore, he regularly attended and participated in biennial conferences and supervised plant breeding students working on plant disease projects.

Prof Herselman contributes to plant breeding in Southern Africa by training and mentoring the plant breeders of the future. “As a lecturer of fourth-year and honours Plant Breeding students, as well as supervisor and promoter of master’s and doctoral students, I am in the fortunate position to teach and mentor my students in one of the newest fields of plant breeding, namely marker-assisted plant breeding. All future plant breeders need this knowledge to make a success of their breeding programmes. Our students are the future plant breeders who will provide food to the nation,” she says.

"As a plant pathologist, I am privileged to have been able to contribute to the quest for disease resistance in crop improvement and to have been recognised for it.” – Prof Zakkie Pretorius

The highest honour

Prof Pretorius view recognition by the industry – in this case, the plant breeding fraternity – as the highest honour for someone working in agricultural science. “As a plant pathologist, I am privileged to have been able to contribute to the quest for disease resistance in crop improvement and to have been recognised for it. I am also extremely grateful to colleagues and co-workers who have contributed over many years to the establishment of a productive and influential research group at the UFS,” he says.

Prof Herselman shares this sentiment. She says: “It means so much to me to know that I have made a difference and an impact on my students’ lives. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work with under- and postgraduate students and to see them grow.”

She continues: “We strive to send out well-rounded students who can make a difference in the workplace and the community. This award means that I have succeeded in this goal, even though I do my work because I am passionate about it and not to receive recognition.”

Fight against fungal disease continues

Prof Pretorius continues to be involved in studies on host plant resistance and pathogenic variability.

As a molecular plant breeder, Prof Herselman is pushing on with research focusing on the development of wheat lines with improved disease resistance. The work that she is doing makes a difference on both national and international level. “As part of my current research programme, we have made rust- and Fusarium head blight-resistant wheat lines available to South African breeding companies for use in their breeding programmes. The lines developed at the UFS will in a small way contribute towards the fight against fungal diseases in South Africa, thus securing the yield and livelihoods of farmers and consumers,” she says.

Her master’s and doctoral students who have completed their studies, also take the knowledge they gained at the UFS back to their countries and workplaces where they ultimately add value, especially contributing towards the fight against hunger.

"“We strive to send out well-rounded students who can make a difference in the workplace and the community. This award means that I have succeeded in this goal, even though I do my work because I am passionate about it and not to receive recognition.” – Prof Liezel Herselman

News Archive

Alcinda Honwana: Youth Protests Main Mechanism against Regime

2015-05-25

Prof Alcinda Honwana

"Enough is Enough!": Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa (speech)

The Centre for Africa Studies at the UFS hosted an interdisciplinary project on the Bloemfontein Campus from 20-22 May 2015.

The project, entitled Contemporary Modes of Othering: Its Perpetuation and Resistance, looked at different perspectives, representations, and art forms of otherness, how it is perceived, and how it is resisted.

The annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture was held on Thursday evening 21 May 2015 at the CR Swart Auditorium. Guest speaker Prof Alcinda Honwana addressed the subject of ‘Youth Protests and Political Change in Africa’.

“Youth now seem able to display what they don’t want, rather than what they do want,” Honwana said in her opening remarks. “Thus, we see the young driven to the streets to protest against regimes.”

Honwana shed some light on recent examples of youth protests in Africa that have enjoyed global attention. Looking at the protests in Tunisia (2010), Egypt (2011), Senegal (2012), and Burkina Faso (2014), it is clear that these events in northern and western Africa have inspired others globally. Yet, Honwana stated that, despite these protests, no social economic change has been seen, and has left dissatisfaction with new governments as well.

“Once regimes fall… young activists find themselves more divided, it seems…

“Which leaves the question: Will street protests remain young people’s main mechanism to avert those in power?”

Background on Prof Alcinda Honwana:

Alcinda Honwana is currently Visiting Professor of Anthropology and International Development at the Open University (UK). She was chair in International Development at the Open University, and taught Anthropology at the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and the New School for Social Research in New York. She was programme director at the Social Science Research Council in New York, and worked for the United Nations Office for Children and Armed Conflict. Honwana has written extensively on the links between political conflict and culture, and on the impact of violent conflict on children and youth, conducting research in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Colombia, and Sri Lanka. Her latest work has been on youth and social change in Africa, focusing on Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Honwana’s latest books include:

• Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013);
• Time of Youth: Work, Social Change, and Politics in Africa (2012);
• Child Soldiers in Africa (2006);
• Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa (2005, co-edited).

Honwana was awarded the prestigious Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity in the Netherlands in 2007.

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